Intel announced recently that it will also be producing the Classmate PC in Brazil, and the local partners will be CEE and Positivo. The Classmate PC represents Intel’s initiative to combat the digital divide worldwide, and it is competing directly with the $100 laptop being developed by Nicholas Negroponte with the project “One Laptop per Child”. According to Intel the “Classmate PC is to bring the full value of PC technology to bear in helping students and educators in primary and secondary schools by assisting in the learning process.”

Intel also released a PDF file with some information regarding the Classmate PC. The main features listed are: ultra mobility (1,3 Kg), low power consumption ( 3 to 4 hours of battery usage), reliability, education focus and architecture for ecosytem (compatible with all x86 applications).

The system configuration should be enough to run educational applications, it includes a mobile processor running at 900 Mhz, 256M of DDR 2 memory and wireless capabilities. The only strange thing, in my opinion, is the price of the laptop. Intel announced that the product will be hitting the market as early as the first quarter of 2007 with a price tag of $400. I mean, 400 bucks for such a low-end educational PC? You can almost buy a Dell laptop with that money…

Prior to the introduction of the Classmate PC on the Brazilian market Intel carried out a test with 130 students of some lower schools. The results were encouraging as far as the educational experience goes. Apparently the professors were able to distribute information more efficiently, increasing the pace at which students were learning the different subjects and improving the interaction between them.

Via: Estado de Sao Paulo (Portuguese)